Slasher



A. L. PARK lady 3, 1956 SLASHER 9 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 29, 1952 INVENTOR.

flTTOR VEV A. L. PARK July 3, 1956 SLASHER 9 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 29, 1952 INVENTOR. BY Mob L 1Q OR VE?" July 3, 1956 A. PARK 2,752,660

SLASHER Filed Aug. 29, 1952 9 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN V EN TOR.

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NM mp ELIE IE NmN \QMN xv m t E? i E HENHHHE E LILHEELLL A. L. PARK July 3, 1956 SLASHER 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed Aug. 29, 1952 INVENTOR. MW L BY 1W 9 HTTOR/V July 3. 1956 A. L. PARK SLASHER 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 T M r H ovwfi A n 1 mp E WA gm QM M R a Y $5 B MMM whm hmj MN fiom 99m SLASHER Arthur L. Park, Old Orchard Beach,

Saco-Lowell Shops, Boston, Maine Application August 29, 1952, Serial No. 307,048 Claims. (Cl. 28-28) Maine, assignor to Mass, a corporation of This invention relates to textile yarn treatment and more particularly to novel slashers of the wet-splitting type, together with novel methods employed therein.

The principal purpose of slashing is to impart to the yarns of a warp sufiicient resiliency and abrasion resistance to withstand the tensions and chafing action to which the warp is subjected in looms. Slashing attempts to do this by building around and causing to penetrate into each of the yarns a protective coating of size. If the coating is defective in amount of penetration or continuity, there will be exposed sections of yarn being run through the loom. Such exposed sections are easily chafed resulting in warp breaks which necessitate stopping the loom and retying the broken ends. It is also desirable for uniformity of weaving to have the 3 to 5 thousand yarns in the warp as uniform as possible. Thus, assuming yarn which is uniform to begin with, each of the various portions of the complete slasher, particularly the sizing and the drying portions, must cooperate with one another to treat each yarn in a uniform manner if a uniform warp is to be obtained.

The typical method of slashing as commercially practised heretofore has been essentially the same as that in use at the inception of mechanical slashing. Briefly, the sequence of operations on the mass of yarn through the prior commercial slashing apparatus was as follows: the section beams, generally of the order of or 12 were placed on a creel located at the input end of the slasher. The yarn ends on the last beam were picked up, carried to and combined with the ends on the next preceding beams until the ends of all the section beams were combined in a sequence to form a single mass. The mass thus assembled was run through a size vat where it was treated with a starch size solution. It was then passed through a drier either of the hot air or cylinder type, which dried the mass of yarn ends as a unit. The dried mass was then passed to the head end Where it was torn apart by a series of lease rods into as many separate sheets as there were section beams in the creel, and the separated sheets forming the warp were then brought together at the comb and wound on the loom beam at the output end-the head endof the slasher.

With the current method of slashing as indicated above, the yarn has been dried in one mass in which the individual ends adhered to one another. Thus at the head end, in order for the lease rods to separate the mass into sheets, each end was actually torn away from its adjacent ends, causing breaking up of the protective coat of starch (granules of starch dropping to the and pulling up of many of the eX- it were possible to dry at no individual end of yarn a protective coating of size could be in effect individually dried on each end. Such a procedure would ellmlnate the problems of tearing of the less susceptible to breakage and shedding in the loom.

Heretofore, however, so far as I am aware, all attempts which in actual practice would sucage occurred when other.

machine. Secondly, stopped position with I have found that the above mentioned difficulties may be overcome to provide a novel and efficient wet-splittingair-drying slasher and method by which the mass of yarns it remains in the apparatus and, without danger of breaking individual yarns. I have accomplished this and have provided a better. and more uniform product primarily by first uniformly and thoroughly yarns to said means. Thirdly, I reassemble the separated sheets when their advance is stopped and have provided a reassembling means to reassemble the sheets and yarns upon stopping of the machine, such means being arranged to reassemble the plurality will be in firm contact with other yarns and twisting will be prevented.

I have also found,

in order to take full advantage of the wet-splitting type of slasher in which the yarns are allowing it to expand before removing it from the size, so that when the yarnsv in'the mass expand they will take up much more size and become impregnated and coated in a more uniform manner than heretofore, since by such novel method the air within the yarns is substantially replaced by the sizing composition. I have also provided a novel counter-current hot air dryer which dries the separated yarns to a substantially non-tacky condition before reassembling such yarns into a single mass for further drying. Portions of such dryer are arranged to operate at surprisingly high temperatures to enable the drying chamber to be of suitable commercial dimensions, and yet, by novel control means associated with such dryer, 1 am enabled closely to maintain optimum drying conditions.

It is a feature of my novel dryer and method that humidification is provided therein for preventing overdrying of the yarns when the slasher is stopped, such being operated only when the slasher is stopped with yarn therein. By such means, together with. the novel wets'plitting means as described above I am enabled to avoid any damage to the yarns during inevitable necessary stoppages of the slasher.

For the purpose of describing further objects and features of my novel Slashers and methods, reference is made to the following drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment thereof, in which:

Figs. 1 and la are diagrammatic cross sectional views of the novel slasher of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of my novel sizing mechanism as used in the slasher of Fig. 1,

Fig. 2a is a diagrammatic cross sectional elevational view of the sizing mechanism of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2b is a cross sectional view of a roll of the sizing mechanism of Fig. 2;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational of the sizing mechanism of Fig.

Fig. 4 is an end elevational view, partly in cross section, of a portion of the sizing apparatus of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of my novel wet-splitting mechanism as used in the slasher of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of the wet-splitting mechanism of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a detail view, partly broken away, of the wet splitting roll together with the opening means as used in the wet-splitting mechanism of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of a portion of the wet-splitting mechanism of Fig. 5;

Fig. 9 is a side eievational view of the portion of the wet-splitting mechanism as shown in Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic view of the wet-splitting mechanism of Fig. 5 in running position;

Fig. ll is a diagrammatic view of the wet-splitting mechanism of Fig. 5 in stopped position;

Fig. 12 is a side elevational view of my novel countercurrent hot air dryer as used in the slasher of Figs. 1 and la;

Fig. 13 is a cross sectional view of a portion of the hot air dryer of Fig. 12, and

'Fig. 14 is a simplified general control system diagram of the slasher of Fig. l.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION Referring now to Fig. l, the wet-splitting hot air drying slasher of my invention includes a creel generally designated at 10, a sizing mechanism generally designated at 26, a wet-splitting mechanism generally designated at 30, a hot air dryer generally designated at 40, and a head end generally designated at 50. The creel 10 is adapted to retain a plurality of creel beams 12 arranged in suitable bearings in said creel, and may be of any conventional type suitable for holding a number of creel beams.

By the use of such a creel, each beam of which has of the orderof 500 yarn ends thereon a mass of yarns of the order of 6000 or more ends may be assembled by taking the ends of the last beam, passing them around the second to last beam, picking up the yarns on the view, partly broken away,

second to last beam and so on until the ends of all the beams have been picked up to form a composite assembled mass of yarn. The yarns thus assembled are passed to size vat 21 such size vat preferably being of my novel type having an under-size nip as hereinafter more fully explained to provide a uniform impregnation of the assembled mass of yarns.

The impregnated yarn mass then passes to my novel wet-splitting mechanism 30, such being arranged to take the assembled mass ofyarns impregnated with size, and, before drying it, to split it by opening it into a plurality of sheets corresponding to the number of beams in creel 19. As hereinafter more fully explained, the wet-splitting mechanism 30 is arranged to control the separated sheets of yarn so that the slasher may be stopped as necessary without extensive damage to the individual yarns.

From the wet-splitting mechanism the yarns, still in open condition, pass directly to my novel hot air dryer generally indicated at 40. Such dryer is adapted to maintain a high temperature during the first passage of the separated yarns through said dryer so that such yarns will be dried beyond the tacky stage before they are reassembled. After such reassembling, drying is continued through two further passes of the apparatus, carrier rolls 314 and 324 being provided in such drier so that the passes may be arranged to keep the overall length relatively short.

From the dryer 40 the assembled yarn ends pass to the head end, generally indicated at 50, such head end being of any conventional type as known in the art for winding up the assembled sheet of yarns onto a loom beam.

The sheet of yarns is driven through the slasher by suitable power drive means comprising three motors, a sizing mechanism motor 114 and two head end motors 504 and 569. As is known in this art, it is essential to arrange such motors so that they may be stopped and started without appreciably varying the tension on the sheet of yarn and that they while running maintain a substantially uniform tension. As hereinafter more fully explained, I have provided novel control means so that when said motors are stopped or started the opening or closing means on the wet-splitting mechanism and the humidifying means in th hotair dryer are operated, such arrangement being elfective to prevent damage to the yarns when the slasher is stopped or started as is frequently required during operation of such machines, as,

- for example to tie broken yarns on the beams in the creel as such ends appear.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION For the purpose of simplicity, the description of my novel slasher will be broken down into its major .com ponents. Such components need not be connected mechanically to one another except through the yarns, although electrical wiring and controls interconnecting the separate units of the combination are of course essential-all as more fully hereinafter explained.

Creel The creel 19 includes a frame 11 in which are mounted a number of section or creel beams 12, herein shown as twelve in number. Such creel is preferably of the over and under type in which the alternate beams are staggered in height from the floor to minimize the overall length of the creel, particularly when a large number of creel beams are to be used therein. Also, suitable means are preferably provided for adjusting a beam transversely of the creel so that each beam is centered with respect to one another and to the sizing mechanism, and for adjusting the axis of a beam so that it is perpendicular to the desired direction of travel of the yarn sheet, such means being known to those skilled in the art, as are other expedients for providing as constant a yarn tension as possible. In general, any conventional creel as attendee d known to those in theart may be. used with my novel slasher although I somewhat prefer that brake; means rather than positive drive means be provided: for each of the beams of such creel.

Sizing mechanism As best shown. in Figs. 2 through 4,. my novel size vat employs two pairs of rolls operating in cooperation with the size solution in a tank of size. The rear pairs of said rolls have their nip beneath the surface of the body of size, and the forward pair of rolls have their nip above the surface of the size, but with the lower of said forward rolls contacting the size at its bottom portion (Fig. 2a). With such an arrangement, I have found that the uhdersize nip at the rear pair of rolls apparently squeezes the entrapped air from the yarns, thus permitting the size to be taken up immediately as the yarn again swells, while the yarns are still beneath the surface of the size. The resulting impregnation by such novel method is much more uniform than with heretofore known arrangements and allows the use of considerably higher yarn speeds through the size vat. The forward pair of rolls primary function is to remove the excess size from the surface of the yarn and further improve the uniformity of the size coating.

My novel size vat thus includes a frame 101 having lower front roll 110 mounted thereon in fixed position and adapted to be driven through sprocket 112. by gear reduction motor 114 as by a chain 116. The upper front roll 120 is mounted above lower front roll 110 on lever arm 122, said lever arm being pivoted in suitable bearings 124 on the frame of the machine so that said. arm 122 may be pivoted about said bearings to move upper front roll 120 toward or away from fixed lower front roll. 11.0. In order to move lever arm 122, I employ a reversible fluid motor 125 having its piston rod 126 attached to the opposite end of lever 122, so that by moving the piston in one direction, as by allowing fluid to pass. into the chamber of said motor, upper roll 12% will be moved. into its upward position as shown by a dotted line 120a, whereas fluid pressure on the other side of said piston will press upper roll 120 downwardly against roll 110 with suitable pressure, say 500 pounds, to provide a suitable nip for squeezing the excess size from. the yarns passing through the machine. The rear rolls include upper roll 140 and lower roll 150, both of said rolls being mounted on a lever arm 160 pivoted in suitable bearings 162 on the frame of the machine to allow vertical movement of both of said rolls. Said arm 160 is moved vertically by a reversible fluid motor 164 the piston rod 1650f which is connected to arm 160 by a link 166. Thus, admitting fluid into one chamber of said motor will raise arm 160, and admitting fluid into the other chamber of said motor will lower said rolls and press upper roll 140 against lower roll 150 with a pressure suitable for squeezing the air out of the yarns so that they may be impregnated, the pressure being of the order of 300 pounds. I

To permit both of the rear rolls 140 and 150 simultaneously to be moved vertically and to be opened, I' employ a slide means for supporting lower roll 150. Such slide means includes a yoke 152 adapted to support bearings 154 of lower roll 150 at its bottom portion. The yoke 152 is adapted to slide vertically relative to slide 153 on arm 160 on which arm bearings 142 of upper roll 146 are mounted. The limit of movement of said yokein one direction is determined by the contact of roll 140 with roll 150 and in the other direction is determined by a stop member 146 on the upper portion of said yoke which is arranged to be contacted by arm 160. after said arm has moved upper roll 14!) for a short distance, say, one inch vertically. Further movement of arm 160- then picks up yoke 152 together with lower roll 150, the upper position of upper roll 144) being shown: dotted at 14% as in Fig. 3. To insure that both arms 160 will move together to avoid danger of damaging: bearings, I have: fur.- ther provided a torque rod 170.- interconnecting said arms,

such. rod extendingacross the machine and, being mounted on frame 101. at. each side thereof. The torque rod 170 has rigidly attached thereto at each side torque arms 172 pivotally mounted on links 166. Thus, if lever on one side of the machine tends to move upward faster than lever 160 on the other side of the machine, torque rod will tend to slow down the faster moving arm and speed up the slower moving arm and thus equalize their vertical movement.

To drive the rear pair of rolls vided an idler gear 180. mounted on suitable bearings on frame 101, said idler gear being; arranged to run in engagement with front lower roll gear 111. A gear 182 is mounted on the shaft of roll 140: which will engage gear when the rear rolls 1.40- and 150 are in lowered position with the yoke 152: in contact with the upper portion of frame 101. A front guide roll 188 is preferably rotatably mounted at the front of frame 101.

The size tank 190 is of relatively small size and is arranged. to be easily removable from the apparatus, it being mounted in running position on the apparatus by hooks 192. engaging lugs 194 on frame 101. Handles 196 which extend beyond frame 101 are preferably provided for easy removability of the size tank. The tank is heated by both open and blind steam coils 198 fed from any suitable source of steam preferably through quick release steam couplings. (not shown). A baflie 199 is provided beneath lower rolls 110' and 150/ to. prevent turbulent flow of the size. solution in the region between said rolls.

I prefer that one roll of each pair be frictionally driven, lower rear roll 150 and upper front roll 120. being driven by upper roll 140 and lower roll 110 respectively. I also prefer that such rolls have resilient. rather than hard surfaces. To this end I provide (Fig. 2b) a roll. having vulcanized layers 290a, 29%,. and 2900, of rubber on a metallic shaft 292 providing. after vulcanization to the shaft. a rubber sleeve. with; graduated hardness from its inner portion in contact with. the shaft 292 to its outer portion. in con-tact with the yarns. Such construction provides a roll which will operate satisfactorily under relatively high pressures without tending to become separated from its metallic shaft and yet one that will. be soft enough to provide the desired action on the sheet of yarn for optimum impregnation thereof. I prefer that the surface of my novel rubber roll have a Shore hardness of about 50 and that the interior portion. vulcanized to shaft 292 be bone hard.

140v and 150. I have pro- Wet splitting mechanism The wet-splitting portion. of my novel slasher as best shown Figs. 5 through 11 first separates the sheet of yarn as it comes from the sizevat into two sheets, the two sheets then being separated into a plurality of sheets corresponding preferably to the number of beams in. the creel. As herein. shown the sheet of yarn is separated into twelve sheets corresponding to the twelve beams in creel 10. The: thus separated yarns are substantially out of contact with. one another and are so dried individually to give a smooth rod like structure. without protruding fibers.

The wet-splitting mechanism includes a lower frame 200 having mounted thereon for limited transverse movement all as. hereinafter more fully explained) an upper frame 201 at the input end of which adjacent sizing mechanism 20 are mounted a pair of rotatably fixed lease rods 202 for splitting the sheet of yarn as it comes from the size. vat into. two portions. Following the lease rods are mounted a: seriesv of. rotatable wet-splitting rolls 204 herein shown as twelve in, number.

The. wet-splitting rolls 20.4 are mounted in two rows, one above. the other, the axes of the rolls of each row being. substantially parallel to one another and forming a. plane.v Such planes are somewhat tilted, the upper plane downwardly toward the input end and the lower plane upwardly toward. the input end of the wet-splitting; mechanism so that the. first-pair: of upper and. lower rolls 204 are but a short distance apart, and such distance increases with each succeeding pair of rolls, the last pair of such rolls being about the same distance apart as are lease rods 202. The tilting of the rows of rolls 204 thus splits the yarn sheet as soon as it leaves the lease rods 202, and each yarn sheet passes to its wetsplitting roll 204 in separated condition for the most effective smoothing action. a

The wet-splitting rolls 204 are preferably rotatably mounted on upper frame 201 of the wet-splitting mechanism so that they may be easily removed from the mechanism for cleaning. Accordingly, each roll 204 has at one end thereof a pin 206 which is urged outwardly by a spring 208 within said roll, the rounded end of said pin being received by a bearing 209 mounted on frame 201 as hereinafter more fully explained. The other end of each of said rolls 204 is of generally conical shape adapted to be received in a matching conical depression at one end of a splitting roll driving shaft 210, a set screw 212 being provided in the wall of said conical depression to prevent rotation of the splitting roll 204 relative to said driving shaft 210. The driving shaft 210 is rotatably mounted in the frame 201 as by antifriction bearings 214, a driving chain sprocket 216 being provided on the end of said shaft 210. It will be noted that bearings 214 are not mounted directly on frame 201 but are mounted within a sleeve 218 concentric with driving shaft 210 which sleeve is rotatably mounted in a suitable bearing 220 which is itself mounted on the frame 201. Such sleeve 218 is used as a means for driving other elements of the wet-splitting mechanism as hereinafter more fully explained.

All of the wet-splitting rolls 204 are continuously driven at a relatively slow speed of the order of 20 to 30 R. P. M. by a gear motor 222 (Fig. 8) arranged to drive, through a suitable chain drive 224, a shaft 226 having thereon a wet-splitting roll driving sprocket 228 which drives all of said wet-splitting rolls 204 through a suitable chain 230 which passes around all of the wetsplitting roll driving sprockets 216. I somewhat prefer that such rolls be driven in a direction opposite to the direction of yarn travel, that is, as shown in Fig. 6, the upper row be driven counterclockwise and the lower row be driven clockwise, as such movement apparently provides the most effective yarn smoothing.

In order to prevent the starch size from accumulating and hardening on the wet-splitting rolls 204 while a sheet of yarn is in the slasher, I provide vapor chamber 231 such chamber having a transverse opening or nozzle 232 extending beneath each vertical pair of wet-splitting rolls 204 so that the surfaces of said rolls will be con stantly bathed in hot vapor to provide a film on said rolls while the apparatus is in operation and thus prevent the hardening of the starch size on the rolls. The vapor chamber 231 is provided with steam from pipe 233 through nozzles 235, the end of said chamber being open at said nozzles to mix atmospheric air with said steam, to provide extremely high humidity conditions which effectively prevent the starch from hardening on the rolls. The vapor pressure supplied to line 233, if steam is used, may be quite low, 3 to 5 pounds being satisfactory. A hood 32 is preferably provided over the mechanism to remove the highly humidified air.

Although the vapor is effective to prevent accumulation of starch size on the rolls 204 when said rolls are being rotated and when yarn is passing through the machine, when the machine is stopped, the presence of stationary sheets of yarns therein prevents proper moistening of wet-splitting rolls 204 by the vapor even though such rolls continue to rotate as is preferable. Hence, I have found that additional means are required in order to provide a commercially acceptable slasher which may be stopped from time to time with a sheet of yarn remaining in the apparatus. Such means I designate first as opening means, the function of which means is to remove the yarn from contact with the wetsplittingrolls 204 when the machine is stopped, and second as reassembling means, the function of which means is to reassemble the separated sheets of yarn into a single sheet at the output end of the wet-splitter to prevent twisting and entangling of the individual yarns.

The'opening means comprises a pair of tear-shaped opening rods 234 extending parallel to the axis of each of the wet-splitting rolls 204. Such rods 234 are mounted for peripheral movement around each roll 204 so that when the machine is running the plane of the axes of each of said pairs of rods 234 will be generally parallel to that of the sheet of yarn passing and in contact with the roll 204 (Fig. 10). When, however, it is necessary to stop the machine, the plane of the axes of the rods 234 is rotated about the axis of each roll 204 sufiiciently to lift the sheet of yarn away from the surface of the wet-splitting rolls 204 (Fig. 11) and thus allow the vapor to contact and moisten all the surfaces of the slowly rotating Wet-splitting rolls 204.

Each pair of opening rods 234 is preferably arranged so that they may be easily removed from the mechanism for cleaning, an arrangement like that of the Wet-splitting rolls 204 being employed for the purpose. Thus, each opening rod 234 has at one end thereof a pin 236 urged outwardly by a spring 238, the rounded end of said pin being received by a bearing 240. The bearings 240 for each pair of opening rods 234 are mounted near the periphery of a disk 242 rotatably mounted on the frame 201 concentric with the axes of the wet-splitting roll 204 associated with such pair of opening rods, the bearing 210 for each roll 204 being mounted centrally of such disk. The opposite ends of said rods 234 are of generally conical shape adapted to fit into conical depressions 244 on annular ring 246 mounted on sleeve 218, a suitable set screw 243 being provided, so that said rods 234 may be rotated about wet-splitting roll 204 by rotation of said sleeve, a sprocket 250 being provided on each of said sleeves. Each pair of opening rods 234 may be rotated for about a quarter of a revolution to open the yarn sheets (Fig. 11) by means of a chain drive 252 driven by a common drive sprocket 254, said sprocket being rotatably mounted on frame 201. For moving said opening means common sprocket 254, I have provided an air cylinder 256 mounted on frame 201, the piston rod 257 of which is pivotally connected to arm 258 carrying sprocket 254 so that actuation of said piston rod will rotate said sprocket 254 to move all of said pairs of opening rods 234 about their respective Wet-splitting rolls 204. The air cylinder 256 may be actuated by a suitable control valve 259 (Fig. 14) in timed relation to various other controlled devices on my novel slasher as the slasher is stopped or started, all as hereinafter more fully explained.

The reassembling device is mounted on frame 201. at the output end thereof following the series of rolls 204. It consists of a pair of rolls 260 mounted on each end of arms 262 so that rotation of said arms by shaft 264 rotatably mounted on frame 201 will rotate the plane of rolls 260 about said shaft 264. In running position, arms 262 are substantially in vertical position with the rolls 260 one above the other to permit the separated sheets of yarns to pass between said rolls 260 out of contact therewith (Fig. 10). When it is desired to stop the machine, shaft 264 is rotated substantially a quarter turn to move the rolls 260 into a horizontal plane which forms a bight of the plurality of the sheets of yarn and assembles it into a single sheet, snubbing it between the rolls 260 (Fig. ll). With the yarn thus assembled into a single sheet, twisting and tangling of the individual yarns is prevented so that the machine may be started without danger of breaking the individual yarns simply by opening the reassembling device to release the yarns and permit them to return to a plurality of sheets again. The shaft 264 may be rotated through a quarter turn by any gamma suitable means, for example a partial revolution motor 265, actuated in timed relation to the various other controlled devices on my novel slasher as the slasher is stopped and started.

I have found it desirable to provide a traversing means for lease rods 202 and wet-splitting rolls 204 so that said rolls and rods may be continuously traversed relative to the sheets of yarns to avoid grooving thereof bythe yarns. Accordingly, upper frame 201 is mounted for transverse movement on lower frame 200 by upper transverse bearing races 276 and transverse lower bearing races 272 mounted on upper frame 201 and lower frame 20%, respectively, at each end thereof, ball bearings 274 being interposed between said races. For reciprocating said upper frame 201, I have provided mounted thereon a gear box 276 driven by motor 222 through chain drive 224, said gear box driving at slow speed an eccentric disk 278 having an associated crank arm 280 pivotally mounted at its opposite end on lower frame 200. Thus, as eccentric disk 278 is rotated by motor 222, upper frame 201 will be reciprocated transversely relative to lower frame 2%. The speed of such reciprocating movement may be, for example, of the order of 3/4 reciprocations per minute.

The opened sheets of yarns as provided by my novel wet-splitting mechanism may be dried by a. number of means, such as by suitable radiant heaters or by hot air drying means, it being important, however, to dry the sized opened yarns beyond a tacky condition prior to their reassembly into a single mass of yarns.

Hot air dryer My novel hot air dryer 40, as best. shown in Figs. 12 and 13, is positioned immediately following the wetsplitting mechanism 30 in order to dry the yarns which have been smoothed by such mechanism so that they may be wound on a loom beam by the head end 50. The hot air dryer in general has three separate yarn passes, A, B, and C, each of which has its own individual air recirculating and heating means, such three passes each being maintained at different temperatures for most etiicient drying as hereinafter more fully explained. In general, the dryer includes a frame 300 having mounted therein three pairs of plenum chambers one above the other, the entire dryer preferably being enclosed within insulat ng surfaces 301 having suitable openings for the passage of yarns into and out of the dryer. The lower pair of said plenum chambers includes lower plenum chamber 316, and an upper plenum chamber 312' spaced from the lower plenum chamber, the space between said chambers being sufiicient to allow the passage (pass A) of the separated sheets of yarns through opening 302 in frame 338 from the wet-splitting mechanism 30.

The second pair of plenum chambers includes a lower plenum chamber 320 immediately above and preferably in contact with plenum chamber 312, and an upper plenum chamber 322 spaced therefrom at a distance sufficient to permit the passage (pass B) of the assembled sheet of yarn between such chambers. A carrier roll 314 is provided mounted on frame 300' at the end of the dryer opposite to the wet-splitting mechanism 30, such roll being of a diameter sufficient to guide the yarns from the space between plenum chambers 310 and 312 (pass A) into the space between plenum chambers 320 and 322 (pass B).

A third pair of plenum chambers is provided above plenum chambers 320 and 322, such chambers including a lower plenum chamber 330, preferably in contact with plenum chamber 322, and an upper plenum chamber 332 spaced therefrom forming a passage (pass C) for the assembled sheet of yarns. A second carrier roll 324 is provided mounted on frame 300 to guide the sheet of yarns passing between plenum chambers 320 and 322 (pass B) into the space between plenum chambers 330 i0 and 332. (pass C). A third carrier roll 334 is provided at the end of plenum chambers 330 and 332, such roll being adjacent an opening 335 in frame 300 to allow the passage of the dried assembled sheet of yarns out of the dryer.

The plenum chambers 310, 312', 320, 322, 330 and 332 as best shown in Fig. 13 are all identical in construction and include a generally rectangular enclosure having a horizontal outer operating surface adjacent the area through which the yarns pass. Such operating surfaces include a plurality oflouvers 311 extending transversely of the apparatus, the louvers forming openings which are narrowest at the operating surface and expand inwardly toward said enclosure. The members 313 extending between said louvers are flat on the operating surface and smoothly rounded at their interior surface. Such an opening provides a smooth nonturbulent air flow which is most effective in its drying; action of the yarns passing and spaced from said surface.

In order to provide generally uniform air flow within the plenum chamber itself so that each louver is provided with air at the same pressure, the top and bottom surfaces of said chamber are constructed closer together at the end opposite the input ends of such chamber.

Each of the pairs of plenum chambers is provided with separate heater and blower systems through appropriate duct work; the lower plenum chambers 310 and 312 by heater and blower 316, having output ducts 3'17 and 318 to plenum chambers 310. and 312 respectively, and a return duct 319 from the end. of pass A back to saidheater and blower 316. Plenum chambers 320 and 322 are provided with a heating and blowing mechanism 326 having output ducts 327 and 328 for providing heated air to plenum chambers 320 and 322, respectively, a return duct 329. being provided to return the air from the end of pass B back to heater and blower mechanism 326. A third heater and blower mechanism 336 is arranged to provide air to. plenum chambers 330 and 332 through output ducts 337 and 338 respectively, a return duct 339 being provided from the end of pass C back to heater and blower mechanism 336.

In addition to the three separate blower systems, fur,- ther means are provided for continuously providing for exhaust of moisture laden air frompass A and for intake of fresh air into pass C as well as means for providing for movement of air between the individual passes as air is exhausted from pass A. Accordingly a duct 340 havnig a bathe 342 is provided, between pass B return duct 329, and pass A heater and blower 316, such baffie being adjusted in accordance with the desired operating conditions to return a small part of the air passing through pass B return duct 329 to. heater and blower mechanism 316. The bafile 342 may be of the draft operated type, so that it is open only when air is being exhausted from pass A. Likewise a duct 34-4 is provided between pass C return duct 339, and. pass B return duct 329, a baffie 346 similar to baiiie 342 being provided in said duct to allow the movement of a portion of the air in pass C return duct 329 to be transferred to heater and blower mechanism 326. An exhaust duct 348 is provided connected to pass A return duct 319, said duct being provided with a damper 350 which is automatically operated by sole. noid 351 as hereinafter more fully explained. When such.- exhaust damper is open to allow air to be exhausted from pass A, air is caused to flow through interconnecting ducts 344 and, 344 between passes A andB, and B and C re spectively, and air is drawn into pass C through opening 335 in frame 300.

Steam coils 353 are preferably used as heaters in mechanisms 316, 326, and 336 as a simple means for regulating the temperature of the air passing through said; heaters and blowers, since the temperature of the steam, in such coils will be proportional to the steam pressure. and such pressure may be regulated by suitable control means. A main steam line 349 provides steam for said coils. Such control means includes a thermocouple associated with each of the heaters and blowers 326 and 336 respectively. The thermocouple 370 being placed at the output of heater and blower 326, say in output duct 337 and thermocouple 380 being placed in output duct 328 of pass B heater and blower 326. A third thermocouple 390 for controlling the temperatures within pass A is placed in exhaust duct 34-8 since the temperatures provided at the output of pass A heater and blower mechanisms 316 are too high for a conventional thermocouple in either of the output ducts 317 or 318 of such heater and blower. Such thermocouples are connected to operate suitable valves to control the steam pressures which provide heat to each of said heaters and blowers 316, 326 and 336, as hereinafter more fully explained.

The blowers of said heating and blowing mechanisms are well understood by those skilled in the art and may be driven by any suitable means, herein shown as electric motors 360 driving each of said blowers. With this arrangement, it will be seen that the air flow is countercurrent to the direction of yarn travel in that air is pro gressively moved from pass C back to pass A, gathering an increasing amount of moisture as it dries the yarns, and finally is exhausted from pass A after it has taken up its maximum amount of moisture. The yarns as they enter pass A from the wet-splitting mechanism, are in their wettest condition and hence relatively high temperatures may be used in drying them in pass A in order to accomplish as much drying as possible, since it is essential that the separated yarns be dried beyond the tacky stage in pass A before they are assembled into a single sheet at carrier roll 314 at the end of pass A. I have found that the temperature maintained in pass A may be as high as 300-350 F. without danger of damage to the yarn. The subsequent passes are maintained at lower temperatures, for example, if pass A is maintained at 300 F., pass B may be maintained at 250 F., and pass C at 180 F.

As is known, if the yarns are overdried in a slasher they will be damaged, so that it is essential that the slasher be operated at all times so that the yarn therein will not be overdried. When the slasher is operating and the yarns are passing through the hot air dryer, the moisture present on the freshly sized yarn, together with the various control means provide the optimum moisture content of the yarns as they leave the dryer at the end of pass C. When the slasher is stopped with yarns in the dryer, however, moisture will not be continuously supplied and, if the yarns are stopped for too long a period of time, there is a real danger that they will be overdried, as, even though the various heating coils be turned off, the dryer structure will retain a sufi'lcicnt amount of. heat to overdry the yarns in a relatively long time.

Accordingly, in order to avoid all danger of overdrying the yarns when the slasher is stopped without the necessity of cooling down the not air dryer, l have found it desirable to provide a source of moisture within the dryer from which moisture may be suppiied to the yarns when the slasher is stopped with yarn in the hot air dryer. Such means for supplying moisture may be a humidifying coil 392 within the dryer. such coil, for example, includ ing a perforated pipe supplied with steam from main steam line 349 through a suitable control valve 394 operated as hereinafter more fully explained. By such means yarns may be held indefinitely in my novel dryer when the slasher is stopped, without any danger of damage to such yarns, and at the same time slasher temperatures may be maintained at their optimum. A

Thus, when the slasher is running, a portion of the air which is recirculated in pass C will continuously be drawn into pass B where it is heated up by heater and blower mechanism 326 to a higher temperature with a consequent increase in its drying capacity. in turn a portion of the air from pass 8 is continuously drawn into pass A. T he final exhausts of the air pass A are through exhaust damper 350. Thus in pass C the yarn is coolest and dryest and is acted upon by low temperature air. As the air in that pass tends to become overladen with moisture it is drawn into pass B where through reheating it is endowed with additional drying capacity. Here the same thing happens as the saturated air is drawn into pass A where, once again, through reheating, its drying capacity is increased. The thermocouples 370, 386 and 390 together with exhaust damper 350 control the temperatures within each of the three passes by continuously adjusting the temperatures of the heaters within heating and blower mechanisms 316, 326 and 336 as well as operating bafile 350 to exhaust fully saturated air from pass A and thus draw new air into pass C.

When the slasher is stopped with a sheet of yarns therein, the essential moisture is provided by humidifying coils 392, the supply of steam to such coils being controlled by the thermocouple 390 together with exhaust damper 350 so that the yarns may be held indefinitely under the same moisture conditions as when the slasher is running, say no less than about 6.0% and preferably about 7.08.0% moisture in cotton yarn.

Head end The head end 50 of my novel slasher may be of a conventional type as known to the art, although I somewhat prefer to employ my novel slasher head end as described and claimed in another application. Such head end has a frame 500 on which may be mounted a loom beam 502 which may be driven by a suitable motor 504, such slasher head end being provided with delivery and press rolls 506, 507, and 508 driven by motor 509 as well as a comb 510. With my novel slasher it is not necessary, however, to use dry-splitting lease rods on such head end since the splitting takes place before the yarns are dried. Consequently, if a conventional head end is used, such dry-splitting lease rods can be removed therefrom.

Slasher control As has been heretofore pointed out, it is essential that various control and operating means as heretofore described be operated in timed relation with one another particularly when the slasher is stopped or started with a sheet of yarn therein. In Fig. 14 I have shown a simplified diagram of a suitable control and driving means for my novel slasher. Referring to said figure, three driving mo tors are provided therein for moving the yarns through the slasher, a size mechanism motor 114, beam motor 504, and a delivery roll motor 509, the purpose of the former motor being to unreel the sheets of yarn from the beams in the creel, the delivery roll motor to move the sheets of yarn from the sizing mechanism to the head end through the wet-splitting mechanism and the hot air dryer and the beam motor to wind up the sheets of yarn on the loom beam. As is well understood in the art, it is essential to control such motors to provide a constant and uniform tension from the sizing mechanism through to the head end as well as to provide means for stopping and starting such motors without substantial change in the tension to avoid damage to the yarn ends, none of such means being shown herein, the motors merely being shown as operated from a suitable source of power at terminals 540 and 541 through a single pole double throw switch 550 having one terminal 551 arranged to operate said motors when the slasher is running. The splitting roll and traversing motor 222 and the blower motors 360 are operated continuously while a sheet of yarns is in the slasher.

In order to stop and start my novel slasher, it is essential to operate various devices on both the wet-splitting mechanism and the hot air dryer, such devices specifically being the reassembling device and the opening device on the wet-splitting mechanism and the humidifying means on the hot air dryer. Hence the second terminal 552 of switch 550 is arranged to operate an air valve 259 to supply air in pipe 261 to opening device cylinder 256; to actuate motor 265 for operating the reassembling device; and for operating valve 394 for supplying steam from main steam line 349 to humidifying coils 392 within the hot air dryer. Since an appreciable time may elapse before it is necessary to provide additional moisture through the dryer through said humidifying coils, I prefer to provide a switch means 396 operated by exhaust damper 350 in series with said valve 394 so that said valve will not be operated until exhaust damper 350 is moved by its control means to exhaust air from the hot air dryer.

The thermocouples 370, 380, 390 are used to control steam valves to supply steam to heating coils Within their associated heaters and blowers. Thus, thermocouple 370 operates valve 371 to connect the main steam line 349 to the steam coil of heater and blower mechanism 326; the thermocouple 380 operates valve 331 to connect heater and blower mechanism 336 to the main steam line 349; and thermocouple 390 operates steam valve 391 to supply steam to heater and blower mechanism 316. In addition thermocouple 390 is arranged to operate exhaust bafile solenoid 351 so that the bafiie 350 will be moved to permit saturated air to be exhausted through duct 348 from pass A. Humidifying coil 392 will then automatically operate when the slasher is stopped to supply moisture to the dryer as above described, such coil being provided with steam through a valve 394.

By such control means, the slasher will maintain its optimum sizing and drying while running, and yet it may be readily stopped and started, by actuating, in this simplified showing, a single switch 550. Furthermore, such stopping and starting may be carried out without damage to the yarns in my novel slasher since the various means are automatically actuated by said switch.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a novel wetsplitting slasher, including novel sizing and drying mechanisms. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications within the spirit of my invention and the scope of the appended claims may be made in such slasher.

I claim:

1. A sizing mechanism including a frame, a vat adapted to contain a sizing composition mounted on said frame, a first pair of rolls mounted on said frame adapted to nip a sheet of yarns therebetween, said rolls in running position having their nip beneath the surface of a sizing composition in said vat, and a second pair of rolls mounted on said frame adapted to nip a sheet of yarns therebetween, said second pair of rolls in running position having their nip above the surface of a sizing composition in said vat but with a portion of the surface of the lower of said rolls in running position extending into said sizing composition.

2. A sizing mechanism as claimed in claim 1 in which said vat is releasably mounted on said frame.

3. A sizing mechanism including a frame, a vat adapted to contain a sizing composition mounted on said frame, a first pair of rolls mounted on said frame adapted to nip a sheet of yarns therebetween, said rolls in running position having their nip beneath the surface of a sizing composition in said vat and being mounted on said frame for limited movement relative to one another and for simultaneapart to open the nip of said rolls and to raise said opened nip above the level of sizing composition in said vat, said fluid pressure means including hydraulic pressure means and a sliding yoke supporting said rolls.

4. A sizing mechanism as claimed in claim 3, further inclu 5 A sizing mechanism including a frame, a vat adapted to contain sizing composition mounted on said frame, a

' pair of rolls mounted on said frame adapted to nip a sheet of yarns therebetween, one of said rolls comprising a metallic shaft with a non-absorbent rubber sleeve of graduated hardness thereon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 670,098 Brassard Mar. 19, 1901 1,659,371 Merrill Feb. 14, 1928 1,953,779 Eaton Apr. 3, 1934 1,985,644 Pollock Dec. 25, 1934 1,997,926 Franks Apr. 16, 1935 2,108,189 Batchelder Feb. 15, 1938 2,111,946 Selley Mar. 22, 1938 2,185,747 Gritfin Jan. 2, 1940 2,203,375 Weiss June 4, 1940 2,420,399 New May 13, 1947 2,438,084 Wood Mar. 16, 1948 2,564,725 Rusca Aug. 21, 1951 2,565,407 Still Aug. 21, 1951 2,572,288 Taylor Oct. 23, 1951 2,582,449 Millar et al. Jan. 15, 1952 2,637,094 Andrews May 5, 1953 2,637,892 Rockoff May 12, 1953 

